On Indicator 16.3.3 of SDG 16.3 – Measurements of Civil Justice
Posted: 5 November, 2021 Filed under: Menelik Solomon Mamo | Tags: access to justice, human rights law, justiciable problems, SDG 16, SDG framework, Sustainable Development Goals, Unsentenced detainees, victims of violence Leave a comment
Author: Menelik Solomon Mamo
Consultant and attorney, Ethiopia
Access to Justice, as a component of the rule of law, is comprised of a number of elements that at its core means that individuals and communities with legal needs know where to go for help, obtain the help they need, and move through a system that offers procedural, substantive, and expeditious justice. According to the World Justice Project’s (WJP) report, Measuring the Justice Gap, 5.1 billion people or approximately two-thirds of the world’s population are faced with at least one justice issue. It is evident that the majority of these justiciable matters that individuals face fall within the ambit of civil justice. The fact that individuals, especially those from developing countries, are surrounded by these problems while lacking access to justice to deal with them, form part of the dynamics that create and perpetuate poverty and inequality.
The role of international financial institutions in protecting the vulnerable during pandemics: Focus on World Bank in developing economies
Posted: 18 June, 2020 Filed under: Francis Kofi Korankye-Sakyi | Tags: access to justice, access to public services for the poor, COVID-19 pandemic, drafting of new legislation, economic growth, finance, healthy business environment, infrastructure, International Financial Institutions (IFIs), Legal empowerment, rule of law, sustainable development, Sustainable Development Goal 16, the rule of law, transparency, vulnerable persons, World Bank 2 Comments
Author: Francis Kofi Korankye-Sakyi
Development and International Trade Finance Expert
The importance of law in development discourse as captured under Sustainable Development Goal 16 is a critical factor in establishing and maintaining the rule of law by empowering the most vulnerable persons and groups in society to exercise their fundamental human rights against unfettered legal regimes and political leadership, especially in times of global crises.
The nexus between access to justice and the fostering of a healthy business environment, economic growth, access to public services for the poor, including the curbing of corruption and curtailing the abuse of power is well noted and must reflect on discussions in this period of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the era of crises, institutions emerge as products of deep thinking and serve the long-term interest of international peace and development. For instance, the Bretton Woods institutions comprising the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) were creations after World War II in 1944. In this light, the invitation to these international bodies to rescue developing economies in this unhealthy time of COVID-19 is, therefore, a legitimate expectation. From 1959 to 1991, multinational development banks which constitute part of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) emerged as a result of the difficulties of the development paradigms of the times and have continued to execute programmes and projects within such expectations. This article takes a look at the role of the World Bank in building the judicial capacities of developing economies during this pandemic and advocates for support for a stronger monitoring and regulatory mechanisms in the application of the funds provided by these institutions to ameliorate the sufferings of the masses for whom these funds are intended to benefit.
Why we need both words and actions to help Africa’s children
Posted: 23 May, 2018 Filed under: Assefa Bequele | Tags: access to justice, African Governments, African Union, Call to Action, children, children suffering, children's rights, civil society organisations, Continental Conference on Access to Justice for Children, informal justice system, NGOs, prison, UN agencies, UN Global Study Leave a comment
Author: Dr Assefa Bequele
Executive Director, Africa Child Policy Forum (ACPF)
We’re often told that actions speak louder than words, and it’s true we won’t change lives by simply talking about the problems. But I also think that you can’t make a real impact unless you’ve thoroughly debated and agreed what needs to be done. Words first, then actions.
I was reminded of this at the Continental Conference on Access to Justice for Children, held recently in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. More than two hundred child rights experts, politicians, lawyers and civil society activists came together to try and find a way forward for the thousands of children across Africa who are denied access to justice. It’s easy for the cynics to dismiss such conferences as talking shops – fine words and discussions, but little in the way of concrete action. And if we had simply presented and debated the issues, there could have been some truth in that
Ghana’s Human Rights Court gives life to the right to information
Posted: 15 April, 2016 Filed under: Michael Gyan Nyarko | Tags: 116 buses, access to justice, Attorney General of Ghana, branding, BRT, Bus Rapid Transit, civic duty, constitution, freedom of information, Ghana, Ghana’s Public Procurement Act, High Court of Ghana, human rights, Human Rights Division, Minister of Transport, Parliament of Ghana, procurement, public property, right to information, transparency 3 Comments
Author: Michael Gyan Nyarko
Doctoral Candidate and Academic Tutor, Centre for Human Rights; Editor: AfricLaw.com
Ghana has been described as ‘a beacon of hope in Africa’ on account of its good governance and respect for human rights.’[1] With a fairly liberal constitution which guarantees quite an elaborate list of civil and political rights as well as socio-economic rights, political stability and economic growth over the past two decades, this description of Ghana is not farfetched. While Ghana has performed reasonably well with regards to respect for human rights, there still remain several human rights issues that require urgent attention. One of those issues is the right to information.
The right to information is guaranteed and entrenched in the Constitution.[2] Article 21(1)(f) of the Constitutions provides that ‘all persons shall have the right to information, subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society’. However, this right has not been effectively enjoyed as government has failed to enact a right to information law to give effect to the constitutional provision. A right to information bill proposed by successive governments has been pending for over a decades. The absence of a right to information law has left a vacuum where citizens do not have clarity on whom to approach for official government information, which information may not be requested and what financial burden they may bear for such request. This has resulted in the rather limited use of the right to information, especially with regards to request for official government documents.
Stifling democracy – the Museveni way!
Posted: 6 April, 2016 Filed under: Solomon Joojo Cobbinah | Tags: 2016 Presidential Election, access to justice, Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Dr Kizza Besigye, elections, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), free and fair elections, freedom of movement, Kampala High Court, peaceful demonstration, police brutality, President Yoweri Museveni, preventive arrest, Uganda, Uganda Police Force, wrongful arrest 2 Comments
Author: Solomon Joojo Cobbinah
Ghanaian Journalist and Human Rights Activist
The Uganda Police Force is perhaps the most proactive in the entire world. They actively swing into action and arrest people they suspect are hatching plans to commit a crime. However, it seems the Police largely targets politicians, who are deemed to be “threats” to President Yoweri Museveni who has been in power for 30 years.
More than a month after Uganda’s February 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Election, opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye, flagbearer of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) continues to be under what the Police describes as “preventive arrest”. Preventive arrest is meant to stop him from leading protests against a declaration from Uganda’s Electoral Commission that President Museveni won the 2016 Presidential Election. Dr Besigye’s arrest on the Election Day restrained him from legally challenging an election he deemed fraudulent.
The SADC Tribunal: Concerted efforts for waves of change we want to see
Posted: 19 June, 2015 Filed under: Patricia Mwanyisa | Tags: 2014 Protocol, access to justice, AEC, African Charter, Campbell Case, civil society, COMESA, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, justice, lawyers, legal mechanisms, ratification, RECs, SADC, SADC Heads of States, SADC Tribunal, Southern African Development Community, Zimbabwe 5 Comments
Author: Patricia Mwanyisa
Human Rights, Justice and Rule of Law Programme Officer, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA)
Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe is known for its spectacular and majestic water falls. In August last year it was not just water that was falling at Victoria Falls but the SADC Tribunal as we know it fell spectacularly as leaders from the Southern African Development Community approved a new protocol to reconstitute the SADC Tribunal. The new tribunal has a limited mandate. By adopting a new protocol, the leaders effectively buried the SADC Tribunal which used to operate under the 2000 protocol. They decided to ignore recommendations from their own legal advisors and attorney generals and created a new Tribunal whose mandate is limited only to the adjudication of inter-state disputes. Simply put, under the 2014 Protocol, citizens are deprived of their right to refer a dispute between themselves and their government to the SADC Tribunal. Without a tribunal, justice and redress will remain elusive for people of the region.
It is important to remember that central to the demise of the tribunal is the case of Mike Campbell and Others v Zimbabwe (Campbell Case) in which the Tribunal found in favor of Zimbabwean white farmers whose land had been compulsorily acquired and without compensation by the Zimbabwean government. In retaliation Zimbabwe strategically attacked the jurisdiction and operation of the tribunal, mobilized support for its suspension and ultimately, its eventual disbandment. By succumbing to the demands of Zimbabwe, SADC Heads of state have ultimately eliminated the access of individuals and groups to the Tribunal at the behest of one State [Zimbabwe] and consequently depriving the entire region of the benefits of such an important institution. Discussions and decisions on the utility of the Tribunal should rather surpass the opinion of one State’s argument based on just one case and personal short term gains. Even so, Zimbabweans themselves and particularly politicians and elected MPs who represent the people of that country must objectively review the wisdom in taking such a stance – more so at a time when Zimbabwe chairs the SADC bloc. They must never forget that they too are ordinary individuals who also depend on fair, transparent and accessible judicial mechanisms which they may need at some point in their lives regardless of their political affiliations. That is, at any given time the tide turns, politicians whether in opposition or in power are susceptible to becoming victims of State sanctioned attacks on the dignity of individuals, including political violence.
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